


turning point

by moonlights0nata



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS
Genre: Canon will shoot it down but let me Dream, Gen, M/M, Post Season 2, Speculation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-21
Updated: 2019-04-21
Packaged: 2020-01-23 09:57:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 891
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18547450
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moonlights0nata/pseuds/moonlights0nata
Summary: Ryoken has something--or rather someone--for Takeru.





	turning point

**Author's Note:**

> SEASON 2 ISN'T OVER SO I CAN KEEP SPECULATING !!!! 
> 
> I want Flame back and I also want these two to...interact more...please.

“I have something to give you.” It’s Ryoken’s opening statement, before he added. “Or...I suppose someone.”

The phrasing was strange, but as Ryoken held up Takeru’s duel disk, his eyes grew wide. From his duel disk, a familiar red and black, round eye blinked up at him before Flame emerged, small hands already reaching for Takeru. He didn’t even realize he was instinctively mirroring the gesture until he was grasping the duel disk and bringing it close, moisture gathering at his eyes.

“Takeru.” Flame’s voice, hushed, only for him to hear, was what broke him.

“Flame--” He hiccuped, tears rolling down his cheeks. “You’re okay--I-- ” He could barely see from how blurry his vision was, but he didn’t want to shut his eyes, not when Flame was in front of him, okay and alive, when he had thought he had lost him for good.

Flame’s hands settled on his cheeks, looking every bit as glad to see him as he was, and his tiny forehead pressed to Takeru’s in a familiar gesture of comfort.

“Yes, I’m alright, Takeru.” The Ignis voice cracked just slightly, affection palpable in it. “I’m relieved you are as well.”

“I thought I’d lost you forever.” He sniffled, cradling the duel disk closer. “I’m so glad…but how--”

“I am, too.” Flame pulled away just slightly, tilting his head to look behind him. “Kogami Ryoken is the one who brought me back.”

At this, Takeru lifted his gaze to the other man. Ryoken was still standing there, politely looking away, and seeming like he didn’t know what to do in the face of the emotional reunion. When he felt them looking at him, he glanced back at them.

“You...brought Flame back?” Takeru asked, and Ryoken nodded.

“I reconstructed him from the data that was left in your duel disk. Pla--Yusaku had been trying to do so too before, with Ai, so I had their help.”

“I thank you, again.” Flame nodded his head. “For letting me see Takeru once more.”

“No...This was the least I could do.” Ryoken muttered, a feeling Takeru couldn’t decipher crossing through his face, and looking lost at receiving thanks from the Ignis.

Takeru was baffled. The same man that had supposedly been set in destroying the Ignis had done exactly the opposite. What Takeru didn’t know was why, but hearing him refer to Ai by his name and not simply Ignis like he’d done before had to mean something changed.

And Takeru had been furious at him, wanting to take his years old anger out on him, anger meant for someone else, but whenever he thought he gained a reason to do so, he was quickly proved wrong.

Kogami Ryoken was a different person than the one Takeru thought he was, he was changing, and although he still harbored some conflicting feelings, things that weren’t quite settled between them, in that moment he could only feel gratitude.

So to Ryoken’s bewilderment and surprise, Takeru surged forwards and wrapped his arms around his middle, making Ryoken take two steps back from the impulse before he regained balance.

“Thank you.” Takeru said, words coming out wobbly and muffled against Ryoken’s chest. “I don’t know why you did it. But thank you, for bringing Flame back.”

Takeru couldn’t see it but Ryoken’s eyes were wide, not having expected this reaction, unsure where to put his hands. In the end, after a moment of hesitation, he dropped one on top of Takeru’s head and loosely rested his arm around the boy’s shoulders.

“Months ago, I would not have done it.” Ryoken admitted. “But I suppose I did it because…” He trailed off and Takeru lifted his head to look at him, pulling away but still standing close.

“Because?”

When their eyes met, Takeru saw something new in them, a glimmer to them that he hadn’t seen in them before. In the warm glow of the sun setting in the distance, his expression seemed to soften.

“Because perhaps, there is a future I had not considered before, one that does not end in destruction.” His hand, having remained atop Takeru’s head, brushed down his hair, gentle, before falling away.

“I do not want to cause you any more pain. You have gone through enough.” He broke eye contact then, glancing at the floor. “This was the only thing I thought I could do, for you, even if I know and understand you still harbor anger for me. I didn’t do it meaning to change that.”

Ryoken's words felt genuine, and Takeru found there was a small spark of irritation flickering in his chest, but it was different. It was irritation at the fact Ryoken would shoulder Takeru’s anger without complaint, resigning himself to it, whether it was right or wrong. And Takeru found he did not want that.

“Well…” Takeru began, catching Ryoken’s eyes again. “Maybe...we can find another future, together, where that changes.”

“...Do you believe in such a future with me?” ‘One without anger, without resentment?’

Takeru’s lips curled up in a small smile.

“I want to. I want to believe in that future...if you want to try.”

Ryoken’d eyes widened again before he smiled back, slow and tentative.

“If that is what you want then...I would like that, to find such a future with you, too.”

**Author's Note:**

> I'm also at
> 
> moonlights0nata on tumblr  
> @moons0nata (main) and @pocketwriting (wips/ideas) on twitter


End file.
